THIS is the first time I have written to the National in more than two years. But I simply had to.
Learning from defeats is something the SNP have not been good at. They have still to learn from 2014 that only a widely embracing movement can lead and win an indy referendum. A movement they must support but only as an equal member.
But they better learn quickly or their self-inflicted demise will continue to see even more defeats in 2026, as so clearly forecast by Robin McAlpine in The National on August 30 (What SNP must do to have any chance of stopping Starmer from becoming FM). He made a heartfelt plea to those in the party who cannot stand by and witness a party in its denial mode create the result of a Labour first minister in 2026 if they do not act and fast.
WATCH: How would Glaswegians vote on Scottish independence 10 years on?
Lesley Riddoch in The National on September 12 criticises the Green Party for voting on principle against the SNP on the issues around train fares and school meals. But I am certain she would have supported more Labour MP s voting against Starmer cutting pensioners’ allowances on principle.
In his conference speech, which was full of blame elsewhere, Stephen Flynn claimed the losses at Westminster would have been greater if they had not broken with the Greens. If you are in denial you have to believe that. It is wrong. In fact, it was a huge mistake to break with the Greens and it cost the SNP dearly and will again. In 2026 the Greens will probably gain seats, unlike the SNP.
As Lesley fairly pointed out, the Greens gave a long list of where the funds could be found to prevent the cuts to school meals and deliver rail policies.
READ MORE: Scottish independence would be won on one condition, poll finds
Despite the growing list of decisions that are harming the future of the SNP, the support for independence remains stable. No need for despair.
The need now is for a Yes movement that is all embracing of pro-indy parties, pro-indy sections of non-indy parties and the many different and diverse organisations – around 70 at my last count – that support indy to lead the campaign that will win.
That has to be the difference this time. No party will be considered the lead or the mouthpiece of the movement. We are not trying to win a General Election, which is how political parties campaign.
A referendum can only be won by a movement we have yet to build. But Believe In Scotland with Yes for EU have to praised for making the start.
Tony Martin
Gullane, East Lothian
THE headline in Tuesday’s National speaks of a poll claiming 57% of Scottish voters want a second Indy referendum.
Well that doesn’t include me because I don’t. I agree with those who say that power has to be taken and is not gifted – ever.
The first referendum was very flawed, unsuitable for a national constitutional debate, not properly monitored and almost certainly interfered with by the great and the good in all their manifestations.
READ MORE: Poll: When will another Scottish independence referendum happen?
What became very clear was that the London lobby of journalists in 2014 did not have a scooby about what was happening in Scotland. The reporting of The Guardian was almost exactly the same as that of The Sun – the union out in force with its liberal credentials thoroughly exposed for what they were.
How did they collect their news? By talking to each other. Were they connected to the great, glorious, diverse and anarchic thing that was the Yes movement? Hardly ever!
I imagine that the recent independence conference at Glasgow Caledonian University was fairly similar – groups of highly qualified academics who rarely grace the meeting rooms of anywhere that is not part of their milieu.
I find it quite astounding to meet educated people in Scotland who have not heard of Doun-Hauden or the anti-colonisation campaigning work of our modern-day Enlightenment man Professor Alf Baird.
Why have we not been looking harder at the Treaty/Acts of Union of 1707 – are there so few Scottish lawyers with an interest in Scots Law? Are we so utterly mentally colonised that this mode of thinking is treated with derision? Why do we not consider the international dimension of our efforts?
2026 will be here very soon. The SNP leadership and their advisers are at the foothills of the Himalayas of independence.
Maggie Chetty
Glasgow
WELL, New Labour certainly ushered in huge change that no-one actually requested, nor were voters informed as to how Labour cuts would impact on millions of elderly folk, for starters. The cuts will NOT end there, either. I wonder how many pensioners would have voted Labour if they had been informed that New Labour would take away their Winter Fuel Payment AND allow greedy power giants to up the power costs by 10% when inflation is less than 3% in the UK.
Next Labour claim they knew NOTHING regarding the “black hole” in the economy? Why is that? The Office for Budget Responsibility keeps accurate data that all elected politicians can access when they choose, so why do voters buy the nonsense spewed out by New Labour?
The plot thickens.
Next, the hypocrisy shown by Keir Starmer is very questionable. Last year, on the BBC News, he loudly demanded to know if Rishi Sunak would take away the heating allowance to fill the £54 billion “black hole” in the UK economy.
The very question suggests that Keir Starmer already knew of a huge deficit. Yet only talked about it again after the 2024 election win. Why was that, exactly?
In only a few weeks, New Labour have alienated millions of UK voters and gets more vitriol online than ever the Tories got. Not bad for a few weeks, eh?
Trevor Swistchew
Edinburgh
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